Just the other day I was lamenting the fact that it had been a long time since I'd won something "substantial". Now, I have no reason to complain about anything, as I've been fortunate to have won between $10-15K over the past few years, (not all from ST, which is why I'm not in the $10K club yet!)

Anyway, over the course of the past week, two small packages appeared in my mailbox, without any type of notification but a return address from Allure.

One contained a hair product that costs $18.99 retail and the other, a clinical strength deodorant retailing for $9.50. That amounted to about $30 I didn't have to spend, and when one is on a fixed income, every dollar counts!

My point in writing this is to encourage those of you who find yourself saddened by the fact that you haven't won anything in awhile, to keep trying, to never give up, to hang in there, and to be persistent, because, regardless of how much a person has won, the thrill of opening the mailbox to find the small wins, doesn't ever get old!

Small wins and other things may not seem like much, but track them for a year and the amounts can really add up.

For instance in the last year:

Free meals from local radio station won over $500.00 worth of free dining. Best part was no dishes!

Movie tickets which can average $13 each. Won over $200.00 worth of watching the latest movie releases.

Gift cards and ecards that are in various amounts. Won over $1,500.00.

Sign up for reward cards from groceries, banks, drug stores, etc. and you will get cash rewards to spend either in establishment, to reduce your mortgage or elsewhere. Reaped over $2,000.00.

Rebates to try new products. These can be very profitable. Received over $1,000.00 of cash back from trying new products.

If you have been a long time customer (home security services is one example) and you receive a notice of price increase (was only $5.00 monthly increase), call them. I recently did this and they kept the current rates just because of customer loyalty. Yearly savings: $60.00.

My old cell phone quit working and I replaced it. Activation fee for new phone was going to be $30.00. I contacted Sprint and yes you guessed it. As a long time customer, they reversed the fee.

While on the phone, Sprint offered me a better plan (with more features and no contract requirements) that serves my needs and reduced my monthly bill by $20.00 monthly. Savings: $240.00 over a year span.

We all can take advantage in many areas (beyond sweepstakes) where the rewards can be quite substantial.

I am always looking for other suggestions or ideas that can save me $$$ and that expands my resources.

“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To be the best you can do everyday.” ― Jason Mraz

Congratulations on being so proactive in obtaining substantial discounts. Well done! diane

Diane: As you probably guessed, I am thrifty. Those were just some savings off the top of my head that can benefit anyone. None of them take a great deal of time and each one can benefit any household.

I sure our members have many suggestions or ideas (if they would share them) that can increase our spending power or assets.

Realize this is a sweep site, but I also realize many are struggling to make their limited income stretch. Maybe (if he has room) Mr. Sweepy could provide a thread where we can post our creative and productive ideas.

If not, I am willing to share and to receive savings ideas through the internal PM system.

My goal each month is to expand my household savings and/or spending power by $1,000.00 monthly.

marli23514 (Mary)

“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To be the best you can do everyday.” ― Jason Mraz

That's a great idea Marli! I certainly would support a separate category for the kind of posts you mentioned and would be interested in reading ways members are being "creative" in their day to day lives.

We have many veteran sweepers on this site who have provided me w/invaluable advice over the years. I can only imagine how much their help might mean to others on the "sweeps" front.

But also, I'm guessing there are folks who can offer additional insights into how to make ends meet, whether it be through sweeping or other things such as couponing or negotiating with the big companies who reward loyalty!

Congrats! I will remember this as I am getting ready to go on the trip to New Orleans I won and I won some small stuff before that and that is really what made me continue. The small wins are really neat to me. Winning big is cool but the small stuff keeps me going.

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